Thursday, February 18, 2016

USAID: Q&A on Cuba grants

The U.S. Agency for International Development on Wednesday extended the deadline for applications from organizations interested in providing "humanitarian assistance to political prisoners and their families, and politically marginalized individuals and groups in Cuba."
The deadline is now Feb. 29.
Grant amounts will range from $500,000 to $2 million.
USAID warns that organizations should avoid sending American citizens to Cuba as part of the program, presumably because they would be more easily detected.

Prospective applicants have submitted questions to USAID about the program. One question read:

Is this program endorsed by the Cuban government?

USAID replied:

This program operates under the jurisdiction and authority of U.S. law.

Another question dealt with the need for secrecy.

Is it possible to request a waiver for the reporting of this award on usaspending.gov due to the sensitive nature of the work?

The agency replied:

Requests for waivers are considered on a case-by-case basis. However, USAID will not be applying at this time for a deviation for this program from the DATA Act nor OMB memorandum M-15-12 regarding usaspending.gov.

Another potential applicant asked:

Would the provision of humanitarian assistance to health care and other social service facilities that provide services to communities within which political prisoners, politically marginalized individuals and their families reside fall within the program's scope?

USAID answered:

Humanitarian assistance to political prisoners and politically marginalized individuals and their families is the priority for this program. We cannot comment further on the specifics of any methodology for the delivery of assistance.